Chance Meetings
by DFM
Summary: Mulder and Scully's lives were turned upsidedown before they even knew the other existed but they still meet and they're going to need each other more than ever. [WIP]
1. A Vacation to Remember

Title: Chance Meetings 

Author: Devin

Category: SAR

Keywords: MSR, AU, Pre-XF, kidfic, M/O and S/O

Spoilers: Nothing major but you might want to know some of the characters from Lazarus, Fire and The End.

Summary: Mulder and Scully's lives were turned upside-down before they even knew the other existed but they still meet and they're going to need each other more than ever.

Disclaimer: CC and Fox own these characters (well most of them), not that they treat them very nice.

Author's Note: The M/O and S/O is important to the story but it is in no way the story, so if that kind of stuff bothers you don't worry. This was written for the MSR Preservation Society's 'What If' challenge. Thanks Cathey for being my awesome beta. Thanks also go to KimK for helping me get a name; it's not as easy as it sounds.

Also, at the risk of giving away part of the plot, you need to know that when something is in parentheses it is someone saying something in sign language.

Chapter 1

June 30, 1983

Moments of joy and moment of grief are a normal part of every human beings lifetime and are considered a given. What throws people most for a loop is when both extremes occur back to back, especially when joy isn't the emotion that wins out.

Four days ago Dana Scully had gone to the hospital to sit for hours in a waiting room as her sister gave birth to her first child. Eight hours after she and her parents and younger brother had gotten there Melissa's husband had stumbled in.

Joshua had the haggard expression of a man that had watched his wife in excruciating pain for hours on end but that wasn't all. In his expression could be seen the look of a man who had had his world snatched out of his hand.

"Are they okay?" Mrs. Scully had demanded immediately, fear making her voice shaky.

"The baby's fine," Joshua said dazedly, "but I think something's wrong with Missy." He stared at the doors he had just walked through. "I was watching them clean off Toby and she passed out or something. I don't know. They wouldn't tell me anything, they just kicked me out."

"She's going to be okay, isn't she?" sixteen-year-old Charles Scully asked but no one would give him an answer. Mrs. Scully took Joshua into her arms as her husband held her. Dana and Charlie just looked on, both feeling helpless.

"Mr. Lins?" a man in scrubs somberly asked and led Joshua away from the others.

They couldn't hear what the doctor told him but they didn't need to. All they had to see was the tears roll down Joshua's cheeks and the way he slumped to the floor under the weight of the words to know what had happened.

Melissa Lins-Scully was gone.

Now, Dana and her mother are standing outside the apartment Melissa and Joshua used to share. The baby is crying loudly and they've tried knocking three times without a response.

Mrs. Scully has a worried look on her face that seemed to have deepened as the seconds passed in front of the door. "Dana, wait here."

It takes her about five minutes to come back with the Super, mumbling the whole time about how he wasn't sure he should let the two ladies in. His protests stopped short once he was in range to hear the baby's cries.

Once inside the group split up. Dana went to where Toby was lying, loudly protesting his abandonment, while Mrs. Scully and Super went to check the other end of the apartment to look for Joshua or at least some sign of him.

"Hi Toby," Dana soothed but Toby didn't even notice she was there until she picked him up. Toby quieted slightly once he was in her arms but was obviously not completely over being left. "When's the last time you ate anything, baby boy? What d'ya say we get some food in ya, huh?"

She was warming a bottle and lightly rocking Toby when she heard her mom scream. Running as she could with Toby still in her arms she came bursting in the room her mom was in, that had been Melissa and Joshua's. At first, the only thing she saw was her mother's pale face and the only she heard was the Super retching in the adjoining bathroom.

What she saw next made her wish that those were the only things her senses had picked-up on.

Curled up in a fetal position in a corner of the room, blood dripping down the side of his face, and a gun clutched in his hand was Joshua.

Toby spotted his father and began wailing at the top of his little lungs.

"Get him out of here," rasped out Mrs. Scully, her eyes barely flickering from her son-in-law. "Call the police and your father."

* * *

"So, you and your mother found him together?" 

Dana numbly shook her head at the cop. "No, my Mom and Mr. Jacobson found Josh. I was taking care of the baby when I heard my mom. That's when I saw him."

The cop hmm-ed and jotted down some notes and then looked back up at her. "And you lot had no idea that he was suicidal?"

"Of course not!" she said indignantly but quieted down when she remembered the baby still resting in her arms. She let his steady warmth against her calm her before she returned to the cop. "We wouldn't have let him alone if we had known... We knew that he wasn't the same after Melissa-" she paused, the sting of her sister's death still far too fresh, "but we never thought he'd do something so..."

"Okay, Miss. Do you know where he got the gun from? It doesn't appear to belong to either your sister or your brother-in-law."

She shook her head. "They hated guns. Neither would back of my older brother when he bought one. They kept quoting statistic that you were more likely to shoot someone you knew than a robber. I don't think they were friends with anyone who had a gun either."

The cop nodded and closed his notebook. "Not quite the start to your summer vacation that you were looking forward to, huh?"

"Not quite," she agreed ironically.

The cop looked down at the girl clutching her sister's baby, who had refused to go to anyone else, to her like a security blanket and felt like he had to do something more but didn't know what. He pulled out a business card and handed it to her. "Let me know if you need anything."

"Thank you."

He watched her walk over to her parents and stood as close to her father as possible without either of them actually embracing each other. "Getting soft there partner?"

"Ah, shuddup," he said playfully and both cops walked away from the grieving family.

* * *

One Week Later 

"Dana?" Dana blinked awake and saw her dad standing over her. "You fell asleep here again." Her parents were starting to worry; she had stayed up every night for the last week rocking Toby to sleep and would inevitably fall asleep with him in the rocking chair. "We told you that you don't have to take care of him. We have no problem doing it."

"I don't mind doing it."

"He can't depend on you Dana. It's not fair to either of you." Captain Scully stared somberly at his youngest daughter as she got up from the rocking chair to put Toby in his crib. "What happens when you have to go back to Berkley? The more attached you two get, the more he thinks you're his... mother, the harder it'll be on both of you."

Dana didn't turn at her father's remarks and chose not to respond. "Is that why you came in here?"

He sighed in frustration at her lack of response. "No. I came to tell you, your mother just got of the phone with a lawyer. Apparently Melissa drew up a will when she found out she was pregnant. We have an appointment tomorrow at noon."

"Dad... I'm worried about Toby."

"We all are, Starbuck, but he'll be fine."

"No," Dana said, shaking her head, "I think something is seriously wrong. I'm taking him into a pediatrician tomorrow. I already made the appointment. It shouldn't interfere with the meeting with the lawyer, though."

"What do you think is wrong?"

She shook her head again. "I don't want to tell you in case I'm over reacting."

As she stared down at the sleeping little boy she prayed she was wrong.

* * *

Dr. Roth's Office 

"Toby Scully?" The old nurse smiled as Dana picked up Toby's carrier and walked over to where she was standing. "Take him into room two. The doctor will be with you in a moment."

Toby was on the verge of becoming antsy when the doctor came in. "Hello. Now who do we have here?"

Dana lifted him out of his carrier and set him on her lap. "This is Toby. I was wondering if you could check his hearing?"

"Any particular reason? He still has awhile before we would normally do that test."

She held out the baby for the doctor to hold, which he did questioningly. Toby started to whimper and squirm. "Shh, it's okay Toby," Dana said repeatedly but the baby wouldn't calm down. "Turn him around now," she requested. As soon as the doctor turned him and he saw Dana again he began to quiet. She reached out and took Toby back. "He doesn't respond to any auditory comfort, he doesn't know I'm in the room until he sees me... I don't know. I hope I'm over reacting."

The doctor sat down next to her before replying. "It's quite possible that what you showed me is as simple as not liking strangers or not wanting to be held by anyone but mommy."

Dana started at being referred to as Toby's mother but figured there was no reason to correct the doctor, that it was more important to find out what was wrong than to into the long story. "But it's not just that. One day, my little brother came over with a group of his friends. They made such a ruckus that the neighbors came over to complain but Toby slept through it."

The doctor nodded as she told her story. "Okay, we'll run the test."

* * *

A Couple Hours Later 

If Captain Scully were a man prone to pacing he would be doing so right now. In an hour he had to be at the reading of his eldest daughter's will, his two boys had been arguing ever since his older son flew in three days ago, and his youngest daughter had taken his only grandchild to the doctor's because she thought something was seriously wrong with him.

But there would be no pacing.

Instead, he sat next to his wife, not saying a word, simply holding her hand.

"Mom? Dad?"

As a unit Mr. And Mrs. Scully turned their heads to look at their three children and grandchild. "You guys ready to go?"

The two boys nodded and headed out to the car but Dana lagged behind.

"Did the doctor tell you anything?"

"Yeah... we have to talk about it," she glanced outside, "but I guess it can wait 'til we get back."

"How bad is it, Starbuck?"

"Ahab, can't it wait-"

"No," Mrs. Scully cut in sharply. "We need to know."

Dana looked down at the baby in her arms and stroked his head softly. Captain Scully thought he saw tears glistening in his daughters eye but saw none fall, he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen his daughter cry.

"Mom, Dad... Toby's deaf."

* * *

Graham and Brits, Attorneys at Law 

This was the second waiting room Dana had to sit in today that she wished fervently that she could be anywhere else.

Since she had broken the news about Toby to her parents they had even more silent than before, the only sign that they weren't comatose was that their hands were clasped in a death grip. Briefly she wondered what that would be like, to have someone that, even if the world was collapsing around you, if you just held on tight enough you would be... whole.

They waited a good half an hour before the paralegal told them to come into step into one of the offices. The lawyer shook each of their hands as they entered the office and apologized for the wait and their loss.

Dana was just contemplating whether the lawyer reminded her more of a used car salesman or her old dentist when they came to the part of Melissa's will that decides what happens to Toby. She didn't realize that her grip on Toby tightened at the mere mention of the section until he let out a squeak of protest. She kissed the top of his head in apology but kept her focus on the lawyer.

'Please don't send him to Milwaukee to be with Josh's parents. Not far away please.'

"Melissa decided that, in the unlikely event that both she and her husband passed away at the same time, custody of Toby would go to his Godmother and Aunt, Dana Scully."

Every jaw in the room dropped.

* * *

Hours Later 

"Dana, you can't possibly take care of an infant. You're 19-years-old, you can barely take care of yourself. How do you plan to attend Berkley and raise Toby?"

"Well, I don't have an exact plan yet since I just found out two hours ago but-"

"Exactly. You don't have a plan. You should let us-"

"No."

"What do you mean 'no'?"

"I can handle this. Plenty of women have-"

"I refuse to let you drop out of school."

"I'm not planning to drop out of school."

"What are you planning on then?"

"What if I transferred to University of Maryland? I already got in once, hopefully it won't be anymore difficult to apply as a transfer student."

This suggestion caused the first lull in the conversation since they had gotten back from the lawyer's.

"I don't want you guys to do this for me."

"Are you sure you can do it on your own?"

"No."

Her parent's exchanged worried looks as the mulled over the problem in their heads. "I do like the idea of you being closer to home, in case you need us," Mrs. Scully said tentatively.

Captain Scully nodded, "We'll have to drive over tomorrow to pick-up and application."

Dana smiled and hugged her parents. "Thank you," she murmured.

"You better go," her dad whispered back as they heard Toby begin to cry.

"Hey baby boy," she greeted as she picked him up and began to walk the length of the room, lightly bouncing him. "You know what? We're going to be okay."

End of Chapter 1


	2. One Last Favor

Chapter 2 

March 3, 1984

"I'm pregnant," was the scariest phrase Mulder ever remembered hearing in his life. And at the moment upon hearing that, you wouldn't have been able to identify him as Oxford's top student, because his entire vocabulary had been reduced to "Wha-? How? When?"

"What are we going to do?"

The scoff in Phoebe's voice wasn't intended to be concealed when she answered, "We? We aren't pregnant. I am. I will decide what will be done."

"Why did you bother to tell me then? If I get no say in the matter, then what are you doing here?"

"I need you to participate in a paternity test."

"And exactly how many of us will be participating in this test?"

Phoebe's lips curled into a humorless grin at the bitterness in his voice. Obviously he still hadn't quite gotten over the fact that she'd broken their 'mutually exclusive' agreement more than once before they had broken up three months ago.

"January was a slow month, only two of you."

Shaking his head in disbelief, he began to walk away, with the certainty that he should never meet Phoebe alone somewhere to talk again, but he turned. "Weren't you on the pill?"

"Apparently, that's not always enough."

There was really no response to that, so he skipped to the next subject. "And the other guy is...?"

"I doubt you know him, but Jason Dermont."

"Ah, smart, rich guy, right? And isn't his father a member of parliament?"

"Why do you think he demanded a paternity test? Imagine the scandal."

* * *

St. Andrews Clinic

Dr. Fredrick walked into the office smiling brightly at the three people sitting in front of his desk, but his gesture put none of them at ease.

"Good morning. How're we all feeling today? Did Annette offer you water when you came in?" They all nodded and one of the men even held up a small bottle of water. "Good. Well, first I'm going to explain the procedure to you very quickly, then I'll answer any questions you might have, and then we'll get under way."

He paused briefly to give them time to ask any questions they might have right off the bat, but none said anything, and so he continued. "Okay, first we're going to have each of you gentlemen provide a DNA sample and then we'll take a DNA sample from the baby and run comparison tests to see whose DNA matches the baby's."

"What kind of samples?" the man to the right of the woman asked. He was slightly shorter than the other man and had sandy brown hair. Dr. Fredrick glanced down at the charts he had laid out on his desk, and made an educated guess that this was Jason Dermont.

"Blood and tissue sample. Nothing too invasive, Mr. Dermont."

"Is there any risk to the baby?" the second man, Fox Mulder, asked looking genuinely concerned.

Briefly the doctor wondered why. He'd been under the impression that this was merely legality, that this was an unwanted pregnancy by all. Normally they wouldn't even been attempting this procedure since there was no reason to check the baby for genetic defects but both Ms. Greene's and Mr. Dermont's families had pulled some strings with the hospital board.

"There is, of course a slight risk with this procedure. There have been occasions when a doctor has slipped up and punctured the baby. However, I have preformed this procedure several times with no difficulty, so you need not worry."

When no further questions were posed Dr. Fredrick finished explaining about the procedure and then brought the meeting to a close. "Okay gentlemen, if you would please go to room 314 on the third floor and have the technicians draw some blood. Ms. Greene, please follow Nurse Weston and she'll get you set up in a room, I will be there shortly."

* * *

1 Week Later

Mulder was just finishing his conclusion on a paper for English, analyzing whether he thought Shakespeare was one person or a group of people using one pen name when the phone rang. "Mulder."

"Mr. Mulder, this Caroline from Dr. Fredrick's office. He needs you to come in tomorrow at 3 o'clock to discuss the results of the paternity test."

Having been expecting this call, he wasn't at all shocked by the request and told her that he would be there.

The next morning was no different from any other morning. He got up, went for a run, ate breakfast, went to class, played basketball instead of eating lunch, and went to the library to do research on yet another paper. At a quarter past two he began to make his way to the clinic.

As he neared the building his pace slowed and his thoughts quickened. He half expected to start hyperventilating at any second, but his pulse barely rose and he made it to the doctor's office without incident.

Both Phoebe and Jason were in the waiting room when he got there but neither bothered to lift their heads out of out-dated magazines when he sat down. He was rather thankful for this, he didn't want their acknowledgement, in fact, he'd prefer they just pretend that they didn't know each other at all after this whole debacle was over.

"Greene?" a nurse asked and all three stood simultaneously as if they were all controlled by one string.

"So what's the verdict?" Jason asked once they were all, once again, seated in front of the doctor.

"You'll all be happy to know that the tests revealed no genetic abnormalities."

Phoebe gave the doctor an irritated look. "You know that's not why we're here."

"No it's not," the doctor replied in an even voice. "Would you like me to skip all the results and go straight to the paternity section?"

"That would be spiffing, thank you," Phoebe answered sarcastically.

"Very well." He flipped a couple pages in the report in front of him and with his finger skimmed down the page. "Paternity test shows that Mr. Mulder is the father of the baby."

Silence reigned for several seconds as the doctor allowed the group to absorb the information, but was broken when Jason let out a huge sigh of relief. "Can I go now?" he asked like a kid being told that he was the only one not getting detention.

Dr. Fredrick gave him a cursory look, but told him that he could think of no reason he would have to stay. Jason all but sprinted out.

Once he was gone Phoebe looked the doctor in eyes and asked, "Can the abortion be scheduled for this weekend?"

This quickly brought Mulder out of his stunned state. "What?"

Phoebe chose to ignore his question. "You can go too, Mulder."

But he was too angry to leave now. "Why did you make us go through all of this if you weren't going to keep it? What was the point of all this?"

"This decision varied on the results," she answered coldly.

He was about to ask what she meant by that, but he knew and didn't need to hear it out loud. If it had been Jason's she would have kept it.

* * *

That night he was lucky that he ever got to sleep. He had tossed and turned for hours on end, beat his pillow into submission so that it would mold to his head properly, tried reading a ridiculously boring textbook, and even resorted to counting sheep, which amusingly enough is what finally did the trick.

He knew that Phoebe had the right to get the procedure done; she'd made it abundantly clear that no matter what the outcome, he was to have no involvement whatsoever. So why wasn't this sitting right with him?

* * *

The next morning Mulder didn't have class but the walls of his dorm seemed to be more confining than usual, so he decided he needed to go for a walk.

Having no idea where he was going, he was surprised to find himself on campus. When he saw Phoebe walking out of the building he was standing across from, he was further surprised when he didn't turn around and head in the other direction but instead called out to her to wait up.

Consciously he didn't know what he'd come there to say, but as soon as the words started spilling out of his mouth he knew they were right.

"Don't get the abortion."

"What?" she asked angrily through gritted teeth and glanced around to make sure no one had heard the 'a' word.

"Don't have it done."

"And why not? I don't know if you've noticed this but I'm not exactly the mothering type."

"Oh believe me, I've noticed. And I would never want to subject a child to that."

"So, what? You want me to give it up for adoption then?"

"Almost. Give me full custody. You never have to see the kid again."

She started laughing and turned to walk away. "That's a good one, Mulder. I'll be sure to remember that one for my next stand-up routine."

Mulder grabbed her arm and turned her around before she could get that far ahead. "I'm serious. All you have to do is carry this baby to term. Your obligation would end there."

"So let me get this straight. You want me to carry a baby for nine months, get stretch marks, have to pee every five bloody minutes, get morning sickness, all while attending school, and then what? Just hand the little bundle of joy over to you?"

"Sounds like crap when you say it," he mumbled under his breath so that she couldn't hear him. "No, of course not. Take the year off."

"Ah another corking idea. And what am I suppose to do for a year? Knit?"

"Be pregnant."

"And who, pray tell, is going to pay for me simply 'being pregnant'? My job will fire me as soon as they find out."

"I will. You won't have to do anything."

Phoebe looked at him, actually considering what he was proposing. "You'll take the baby immediately? What if when it grows up it wants to meet its mother?"

"I will make it abundantly clear why that is not the most advisable course of action."

"Give me a couple days to think it over."

* * *

A Couple Days Later

5 AM

"Okay Mulder, you've got yourself a baby."

Mulder stared blurrily at the woman in front of him. "Good morning to you too."

"Oh sod off. I'm just dropping by to give you the good news and to give you this address." She handed him a slip of paper and continued. "My mum and dad said that if I was going to do this I would have to be out of sight, so they gave me the key to their house in the country and now I'm off. I'll call later to let you know what funds will be required for me to maintain my style of living. Ta ta." And with that she was gone.

* * *

Six Months Later

September 10, 1984

As is the pastime of all fathers who've been banned from the delivery room, Mulder had taken to pacing the tiny waiting room back and forth.

"There must be a more scenic route," one nurse suggested when she took pity on the father-to-be and brought him a glass of water and a friendly, if not slightly detached, smile.

He gave a half-hearted amused grin. "Any suggestions?"

"Variety is the spice of life. Walk by the magazines on one pass and the window on another, and then switch it up. Maybe every once in awhile you could give your legs a rest and try sitting. Go wild with it."

Chuckling lightly, he took the hint and sat down momentarily. He would have looked relaxed if his right leg had stopped bouncing up and down.

"Well, I suppose that's a start," she commented, and, with a wink, went back to the nurse's station.

Looking down at the cup in his hand he didn't notice the tall woman with graying hair walk into the room.

"Fox?"

Mulder's head snapped up and started at the woman in surprise. "Mom." Then remembering himself he stood up and gave his mom a hug and kiss on the cheek. "What are you doing here?"

She looked around awkwardly, as if she was trying to remember herself what she was doing there, but patted his arm affectionately. "I couldn't very well miss the birth of my first grandchild, now could I?"

Mulder smiled at that and walked her over to the row of chairs. "I'm glad you're here, mom."

They were waiting in silence for another half-hour when a doctor walked in. "Mr. Mulder?"

They stood immediately and Mulder answered, "Yes?"

"You can come in and meet your daughter now."

Mulder felt a huge smile take over his face and his mother nudge him to follow the doctor. "I'll be right back," he told her quickly and then was gone.

When he walked in Phoebe was feeding the baby and cooing quietly to her. She stopped herself when she noticed that Mulder had walked in, but he smiled knowingly at her. Getting a bit defensive she said, "She was hungry. I couldn't very well let the little thing die of hunger after all the work it took to get her out."

"Of course not," he agreed but the knowing smile had not left his face.

Seeing that the father was now here a nurse approached them. "Have you two decided on a name?"

Mulder glanced at Phoebe but she shook her head. "This is your baby. By the way, don't ever ask me for a favor again. This covers anything I could ever possible owe you."

"Duly noted." He leaned over and took the little girl from Phoebe's arms, so that he could finally get a full view of the baby. "Clara," he said suddenly. "Clara Mulder." The nurse smiled and wrote the name down but Mulder barely noticed he was so enthralled with the baby.

Clara blinked her eyes open and stared up at her father. "Hi, baby girl." This seemed to fulfill Clara's curiosity about who was holding her, so she closed her eyes and went to sleep, safe in her father's arms.

End of Chapter 2


	3. A Beautiful Friendship

Chapter 3 

Herbert Hoover Elementary School  
September 1990

'Late, late, I'm so late,' was all Scully was able to think as she raced across the playground dragging Toby behind her. His seven-year-old legs were struggling to keep up with her pace as they headed to the cafeteria where the meeting was taking place. When they reached the door, she straightened her clothes and tried to slow her breathing to hide all signs that she had been running and, after holding a finger to her lips to signal to Toby to be quiet as they went in, she opened the door.

Luckily someone was talking so no one noticed as she snuck in the door. She and Toby sat in seats near the back and settled in.

She began to help him take off his coat but he gave her that grown-up, independent look and signed to her (I got it, Mom.)

She had just been catching up on what was going on in the meeting when the speaker told them to look at a piece of paper that had been handed out earlier. She was about to ask for a copy when someone next to her nudged her gently. She turned slightly and saw a man next to her, who couldn't be much older than her, and she couldn't believe that she hadn't noticed him before. He had chestnut-brown hair that looked like it was made for someone to run their hand through, and eyes that were a beautiful shade of hazel. She would have continued to catalogue his features but he was speaking and she had a feeling she should probably listen.

"Here, we can share. I doubt either of us will actually need our own copy. Wouldn't want to waste the paper after all."

She barely contained the returning smirk that wanted to form on her face. "Well, if we can do our part to save a tree than by all means..."

He placed the paper between them and they both ignored the fact that they leaned in closer than necessary to look at the paper, and pretended to listen to what the man was saying. Luckily it had nothing to do with either of their kids so it didn't matter.

* * *

The man talked on for about twenty minutes until he saw some of the kids in the room beginning to doze off, and that their parents weren't doing much better. "Why don't we take a fifteen minute break? Then we'll come back, talk about a couple fundraisers, and then we'll let you all get out of here."

People around them began standing and stretching but Scully stayed seated and she was happy, more so than she was willing to admit, when the man next to her didn't stand either, merely stretched and rolled his shoulders slightly.

"So with whom have I been saving the rainforest?" He asked after he was done getting comfortable.

She opened her mouth to answer but her son's insistent tug on her sleeve stopped her. (What, sweetie?)

(I'm hungry.) She couldn't help the laugh in her head as she thought that this was the exact same boy who didn't need any help half an hour ago and now he couldn't walk across the room to the food table. To both of their surprises though she wasn't the one who answered.

(My daughter didn't finish the chips I bought her earlier. I'm sure she'd be willing to share.)

"That's very kind of you but-"

"It's jammed pack over there, he'd never be able to fight his way through." He slid the little girl, that his frame had been hiding, onto his lap and whispered something in her ear. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bag of Cheetos and shyly stretched out to hand them to Toby.

(Thank you,) Toby signed and began eating a little.

Mulder whispered in the girl's ear again and she smiled slightly and said softly "You're welcome."

"That really was very nice of you. What's your name?" Scully asked sweetly, trying to put the girl a little more at ease.

She smiled back and told her, "Clara."

"Nice to meet you, Clara. I'm Dana and this," She brushed her son's hair aside from his forehead affectionately, "is Toby." Toby waved at the younger girl and she giggled slightly and waved back. "He's in second grade. How about you?"

"First," the girl said proudly.

"And you?" she asked the man, knowing full well that he was the only one that hadn't been introduced yet.

He gave her a huge grin and said, "I graduated a long time ago." He waited just long enough for her to unsuccessfully hide her smile and roll her eyes before sticking out a hand. "Mulder."

Clara leaned across her dad to whisper to Scully secretively, "He doesn't like his first name." She was rewarded for this by the hand that was still holding her tickling her until she was crying from laughter.

Scully looked on amused but took Mulder's offered hand. "Scully."

* * *

"So what do you do?" Scully asked resuming the basic getting to know you questions that had been interrupted when the meeting had started back up. Mulder had insisted on driving them to their car since they had had to park so far away, and it also left more time for said questions. The fact that the kids had fallen asleep in the last stretch of the meeting didn't hurt either.

"FBI."

"Really? She asked surprised.

He chuckled at her reaction. "I should probably be flattered that I don't look enough like an agent for you to have guessed. It's the tie isn't it?"

She laughed and shook her head. "No, I was just surprised because I teach at Quantico. Small world, huh?"

He grinned, something he'd been doing a lot; though she had no way of knowing that he'd passed his smile quota for the day about an hour ago, and responded, "Very. Funny, I don't recall seeing any agents that look like you. Maybe I need to transfer." His teasing comment earned him and eyebrow but he just grinned on.

"That's it up there," Scully said, gesturing toward the car parked at the end of the block. He pulled up next to it and put his emergency lights on. They both looked in the back seat at the sleeping children and for a couple moments just sat there, being in the moment.

"Do you need help getting him into the car?"

She shook her head. "Nah, all that FBI training was good for something." As she turned to open the door and get out he reached out and stopped her.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. She smiled and took it. Neither said anything else as she got out and moved Toby into the other car. He watched as she buckled her son in, managing to not disturb him and then opened the trunk of her car. He was slightly confused by this action until he saw her pull out a similar card from the briefcase that had been back there. She walked back and handed it to him.

Again they said nothing, not even goodbye, but for some reason it didn't feel like they needed to.

* * *

3 Days Later

The jingle at the front of the restaurant drew her attention to the door. Usually this occurrence would only garner a glance but this time her gaze lingered and was quickly returned.

"This place's atmosphere seems to have greatly improved since the last time I was here," Mulder commented as he walked over to her table. Scully rolled her eyes but softened it with a happy smile and motioned for him to join her.

"So you also know about Quantico's best kept secret," she motioned around them, indicating the restaurant.

"Of course, I ate here all the time when I was at the Academy. For some reason I was craving their Rueben sandwich all day today."

"How fortunate for me," she teased.

He grinned and returned, "How did you get so lucky?"

* * *

Scully wiped tears out of her eyes as she tried to get her laughter back under control. She hadn't laughed this hard in a very long time.

There was a comfortable lull in their conversation, but it was clear Mulder was trying to figure out a way to say something. "Okay, feel free to ignore this but... where is Toby's father?"

He regretted asking almost immediately when he jovial expression turned sad but she tried to push the conversation back to the lighter side. "That sounds suspiciously like a quid pro quo question: you get my sad story, I get yours."

"You're assuming it's sad?" he asked in a mock hurt tone.

"It isn't?" she challenged and he decided to give her the slight reprieve that she was asking for.

"Actually, there's not much to tell. I convinced Clara's mother to carry her to term and then she gave me full custody. I haven't heard from her since."

"She hasn't even tried to contact Clara?"

"I doubt she was ever compelled to do so."

There was no hint of remorse in his voice but she was appalled nonetheless. "How could she not want to be part of her daughter's life?"

"Scully, you don't know her. Trust me, it's best for everyone involved that she isn't."

"But-"

He shook his head. "She wasn't very maternal last I saw her." Scully let it go but still felt somewhat angered on Clara's behalf. "What about Toby's father? Was he not paternal enough?"

She looked down at her plate and nervously nudged around the remnants of her lunch with her fork. "I'm sure Josh would have been a great father." She met Mulder's eyes but quickly looked back down. "He... Toby... he's not, biologically, my son." Mulder reached across the table and took her hand and squeezed it supportively. In a rush, so that she actually managed to get it out, she said, "My sister died in labor and four days later my brother-in-law killed himself."

His hand stilled momentarily at her pronouncement but then tightened around hers. "Scully-"

"You know how every parent waits for their child's first word, hoping that it's 'mama' or 'dada'. When Toby said his first word- when he said 'mama'- I cried for an hour. I cried because it should have been Missy hearing him say that. And I cried because I was happy when he said it. I shouldn't have been happy. I should have-"

"Scully-." He got out of his chair and kneeled down beside her, trying to catch her eye as she continued to look at the table. "What happened to your sister shouldn't happen to anyone but... you are Toby's mother and you deserved that moment. Melissa would have wanted you to be happy in that moment, not feel guilty."

She shook her head to try to deny his words but he pulled her into a tight hug and whispered, "She would have."

* * *

Scully leaned against her car and looked up at Mulder, who was standing in front of her. "So, are you one of those guys who runs for the hills the second he hears the sob story?" she asked, only half-joking.

He scoffed, "If that's your best attempt to send me running I don't think either of us has anything to worry about." He was awarded with a small smile. "Do you and Toby like pizza?"

"Toby would live off pizza if I let him."

"How about Friday then?"

"Just name the place and time."

He nodded and began to walk away but not before tossing over his shoulder, "Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

End of Chapter 3


End file.
